Strange Yet Wonderful
by Nukem999
Summary: A criminal escapes Tartarus and hides in Ponyville, only to be found by Twilight. She knows she must report this to Celestia, but is unsure if he truly is guilty. Could she be having feelings for this dark pony? The other Mane 6 find love in the strangest of Stallions as well and a dark new evil is on the rise. Are these new loves curses or blessings? Mane 6 X OC's, Spike X Rarity.
1. Darkness Rises

**Strange yet Wonderful**

**Chapter 1: Darkness Rises**

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><p><em>I just wanted to start off this new story with this tidbit: it's my first MLP story ever! I've been mega addicted and in love with the series but never had enough ideas to cook up a good story for it and now, hopefully with this one I do. It's mostly romance with actionadventure mixed in and getting heavier down the line. Will features OC's for Twilight, Rainbow, AJ and Fluttershy (Sorry pinkie!). Plus Spike X Rarity! This first chapter is purely story set up so none of the lovey dovey stuff will show up til after this chapter. Anything you think needs fixing/improving let me know ASAP! I want to make this a great story for ALL so tell me what I'm doing right/wrong so I can make the best fic possible. I don't own MLP: friendship is magic or any of it's characters, terms etc. I do own my OCs: Moonstruck, Chimera Khan and Crowe.  
><em>

_Now that that's covered, enjoy the story!_

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><p><em>Every day…<em>

_Every day I wake up and I keep hoping…_

_I keep hoping this is some sort of terrible dream…_

The trembling pony lay slumped across the cold, chained floors of Tartarus; covered by a shabby hooded cloak that was black as coal. The pony sighed heavily with his head slumped down.

…_the most __**Hellish **__dream ever._

His voice trembling with shivers every time he lifted his chained limbs. The sound of the clanking restraints could be heard from every direction of the dark prison. No one but the worst of the worst ended up in this soul crushing world of never ending darkness, so it's only natural to hear the clanking sound of metal rattling against restricted flesh.

_This is Tartarus after all._

Ever since the Two sisters used their magic to guide Equestria into a more peaceful and prosperous place, there have been creatures who wreaked terrible destruction and darkness across the land. Creatures that have proven time and time again that they belong no other place than to be shackled and cut off from the rest of the world for all of time. The pony cowered into his cloak like a turtle shell. Every time he peered his silver eyes across the endless dark halls of the shadowy prison, he is reminded of the monsters that are the closest thing he has to _friends_.

"I swear when I get out of these wretched, vile chains; I will show those accursed ponies what REAL power looks like."

_Doesn't that whiny old goat ever shut up?_

"Those princesses…they think they're so smart with their magical powers. They'd be nothing but glorified swine without their precious magic."

_Tirek._

_That's the name of the cantankerous creep shackled right next to my cell. Every day and night he goes on and on about planning his revenge against Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. If I had any means or purpose to keep track of time in this place, I could set my watch to Tirek's complaining. Sometimes I feel being forced to be "neighbors" with him is a far worse punishment than anything this dungeon could concoct._

_I often find myself wondering…_

_Do I really deserve this? Does Celestia enjoy torturing an innocent soul?_

The pony closed his eyes and sighed heavily, feeling the comfortless touch of his tears trickling down his heaving chest. The tears softly splash against the cold metal around the pony's hooves. He opened his eyes slowly; the sound of growling and grunting alerted his senses.

_Looks like Cerberus is making his rounds._

The monstrous 3 headed dog padded his gigantic paws past each and every cell; no criminal escaped those 6 blood red eyes. Cerberus snarled and bared his fearsome fangs from each head to each prisoner. Every crook, creep and creature froze dead in their tracks once Cerberus stomped past them.

Tirek snickered softly "I can sense it; there's a definite change in the stream of energy surrounding this place." He rubbed his hands together menacingly. "It may have taken countless years but finally, my dream of vengeance upon those pathetic little ponies will finally be realized."

The hooded pony rolls his eyes at that obnoxious creep_. _

_Being here for so many years must have driven him crazy with delusions about escaping this place. I haven't even been in Tartarus that long and even __**I **__know that escape is impossible. _

BOOM!

A massive explosion erupts from the front gate of the prison. Blaring alarms begin screaming out like howling ghosts, the prisoners begin to panic and call out for answers as to what was going on. The pony's eyes bulged with intense shock. A large dog shaped hole was seen in the now busted front gates of Tartarus; Cerberus had left his post! The pony quickly darted his eyes to Tirek's cell; it was empty. Tirek is gone too! Every muscle in the pony's body froze with paralyzing shock.

_I can't believe it, that old goat guy was right! I can finally escape and leave all these nightmares behind once and for all! Maybe I can even clear my name…_

The pony shook his hooded head. Even with the gaping hole in Tartarus's entrance, there was still the matter of the shackles attached to the pony's hooves. The hooded pony pulled as hard as he could to slip his hooves out of his restraints. The pony grunted and groaned loudly, fiercely thrashing his purple furred legs against the clanking chains.

_Come on come on! I'm not going to get another chance like this; I have to get out of here NOW! _

The prisoner pushed and pulled with all of his might against the chains. Screams erupt from the pony's snout; he felt his hooves finally slip out of his chains. The pony dropped to the ground.

_No time to rest, I can gather my strength back up AFTER I escape._

The hooded pony leapt to his hooves and charged towards the exit, his legs pumped with all the might he could muster. His joints racked with pain due the pony's lack of proper exercise in prison. But the pony knew freedom was just a few gallops away; so he pressed on through the pain. The pony passed the front gate and shouted for joy at his newfound freedom, he skidded his hooves to a halt and turned around to look back at the gate.

_I might be out now but as long as that gate is left open, any one of those villains can make a break for it just like Tirek did. I've got to patch up the hole until Cerberus returns! I just hope the spells blocking my magical powers won't stop me from fixing this. _

The pony closed his eyes; focusing all of his energy to cast a spell from his hidden horn. Red colored glows surged from the pony's horn. The red glow was faint and dwindling but it was there. Being imprisoned had exhausted the pony's magical powers; he was straining all of his muscles just to keep the glow going. Formless blobs of shadows were rapidly approaching the exit. The pony bit his lip nervously, he could already see the shadows glowing eyes and the sound of monstrous snarls getting louder and closer. The hooded pony expanded his horn's red glow into a towering mass of shapeless magical matter.

The crimson energy formed into a colossal tombstone, its height and width matched the hole left by Cerberus near perfectly. The inmates rushed towards the gate with greater speed. The pony gasped; he forced his aching horn to position the tombstone correctly before he was overrun by the prisoners. The pony was sweating furiously, the weight and pressure from carrying the massive hunk of stone was putting a tremendous amount of strain on his head and horn.

WHAM!

The tombstone fell to the ground with thunderous force; the pony felt the Earth beneath his hooves tremble like a vicious Earthquake. The former prisoner turned and ran, he ran as fast as his aching legs could carry him; never looking back and never stopping. After running for what felt like an eternity, the hooded pony collapsed to the ground almost instantly. His lips slacked wide open; desperately panting for air. The pony wiped his brow clean from sweat with a trembling hoof.

_That tombstone blocker is a crude fix but the important thing is it works. That wall should keep Tartarus secure until Cerberus or Princess Celestia comes around, of course I'll be long gone by then. Sigh…I just wish I could have stopped Tirek from escaping. I sense he's going to be a pain in the flank in the future._

After a few minutes of resting, the hooded prisoner finally regained his strength. He stood up and slowly removed his shadowy hood for the first time since he was locked up. The pony's silver eyes shined like ground up diamond dust, his fur was a deep shade of dark purple; almost as dark as Twilight's mane. The pony's mane popped up from the hood like a bouquet of spiked flowers; it was spiky, dark jade green. The tail mane looked like two green colored scythes poking out of the back of the cloak. A curved unicorn horn sparked weakly amongst the spiky locks; it's magic still recharging.

_No time to worry about that __**Moonstruck**__. I've got to find a safe place to hide until I can find a way to clear my name in Equestria, so that Princess Celestia doesn't hunt me down and send me back to that monster pit. _

Moonstruck looked to his horn and winced at its feeble attempts to spark more magical energy. He looked to his back and winced, feeling some sort of strange pain across his back but he wasn't sure what it was. Moonstruck looked towards a hill and started walking towards it; hoping it would lead him to the nearest town. He flipped his hood back on and stayed off roads and any other paths marked on maps to avoid being spotted or detected.

_I have no idea how long I was in Tartarus, time felt like nothing in there…but it must have done something to my magic because I can't use all of my abilities for some reason. Maybe I'm just too drained from the escape and need to rest for a while. Hopefully it's not the former because if it is, I'm gonna have to find someone who knows strong magic AND is willing to help an escaped convict. Either way…I've got to still have hope…hope that my world will change for the better._

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><p><em>Somewhere in the jungle… <em>

The jungle was a beautiful scene of emerald colored plants, exotic wild beasts and a creeping sense of dark mystery that seemed to lie in wait behind every bush and boulder. A lone, looming shadowy figure stood at the center of a clearing. The figure was a mixture of shades of blue, jackal like in design; his eyes had a glare that possessed years and years' worth of greed unsatisfied.

His name is Ahuizotl.

The jackal like creature had spent months desperately rebuilding his forces after his most recent and humiliating of defeats at the hooves of his most wretched arch enemy: _Daring Do_. Ahuizotl loathed feeling this way; feeling defeated, powerless and humiliated. Despite ages and ages of untold treasures collected by his ruthless exploits, that wretched author not only continued to take every treasure and trinket from his paws; but turned him into a mockery in her insipid book series. His ape like paws paced in circles within the secluded jungle spot, Ahuizotl's mind filled with nothing but memories of past defeats to fuel his rage and pass the time.

_Where is that mysterious dealer? He should have been here by now, _Ahuizotl slowly brought his pacing to a halt. His dark yellow eyes slowly falling onto a black metal box he held in his paws. _If it hadn't been for this pony's ridiculous promise and all the trouble I went through to secure _**this** _item…I would have left already. _

Thinking back on the promise this mysterious pony had made, Ahuizotl growled fiercely. He clenched his paws so tightly; he practically crushed the box under his paws. The deal the pony spoke of was a bold one and it brought such painful memories of _**her**_ back to Ahuizotl. He took a deep breath and relaxed his crushing paws before denting the box any further.

"If everything goes as planned and this strange pony can actually do what he claims to do; I'll be rewarded a treasure no golden trinket could EVER measure up to." Ahuizotl lifted the box towards his face and opened the lid; examining its contents. "All for a hard day's work," his low voice grew into a booming laugh. "Even if this was hard to come by; it'll be truly worth it!"

"What would you know about a _hard day's work_ Ahuizotl? Stealing doesn't count you know."

Ahuizotl quickly closed the box. His head darted left and right, "Curses! Where are you? I know it's you Daring Do." Ahuizotl looked everywhere but saw no sign of the adventuring author.

"HERE I AM!"

Daring Do flapped her tanned gold wings, bursting from a trio of palm trees in her traditional "grand entrance" style. Daring Do looked exactly as Ahuizotl had bitterly remembered her: light green explorer shirt, iconic hat, black mane and a shimmering pair of fuchsia colored eyes, complete with a compass cutie mark. The adventurer landed before Ahuizotl, confronting her arch enemy.

"Don't you ever learn Ahuizotl? I won't let you rob Equestria's of its treasures just so you can misuse them for your own greedy purposes; not now not ever!"

"HA! These treasures are rightfully mine for the taking; they'd be nothing but dust collectors sitting behind glass cases if it were up to you Daring Do."

Ahuizotl snapped his tail hand; Daring Do immediately flinched and scanned all sides for possible attackers. Daring Do was a sharp mare; she knew Ahuizotl always had goon ponies or wild animals to his dirty work. The tanned Pegasus had always managed to overcome any obstacle Ahuizotl had thrown her way but she refused to be cocky and risk getting caught off guard.

Did he snap his fingers just to trick her, or was he signaling someone else nearby?

"All right, so where's your goon squad?" Daring Do looked behind her flank. Her eyes scanned to the left, to the right and then up to the trees and cliffs. "I know you got some muscle lurking around here somewhere, probably another pack of wild cats just lying in wait to rip me to shreds." Eventually, Daring Do ceased looking around frantically; her golden muscles relaxing slightly as gaze slowly fell back to Ahuizotl. Something about this whole situation felt off and she didn't like it one bit.

"This isn't like you. You've always got some pack of hench ponies or wild animals ready to jump me. What gives?"

Ahuizotl frowned, refusing to answer the explorer pony. Daring Do spotted the dented metal box in the jackal's paws.

"Or…is it that you don't need them around because of that thing you're holding there?"

"THAT thing as you so crudely put it does not concern you." Ahuizotl hid the box behind his back and placed it in his tail paw, "It's an item that means absolutely nothing to everyone…except to the one I am trading it with."

"You expect me to eat that load of hay?" Daring Do leapt forward, trying to grab the box. Ahuizotl swiftly dodged the Pegasus and laughed at her futile efforts. Daring Do growled fiercely and flapped her wings hard. "I could never let a valuable piece of history be misused by the likes of you. So why don't we just skip to the ending we all know is coming and you drop the item before-"

"Before you write the final chapter on our little adventure Miss Do? I think not! It's far too early for that; after all, **we **still have a **twist ending** that we've been **dying** to share with you!"

The dark mysterious voice came from behind Daring Do. She flinched in fear at the sound of such a twisted voice, her tanned fur rippled with goose bumps. Daring Do turned around to face this new presence.

Ahuizotl rubbed his paws together and cackled. "Oh how rude of me; I didn't tell you that we had company coming Daring Do. Allow me to introduce my new partner and trading associate."

A shadowy figure emerged from the blanket of darkness provided by the jungle trees; he approached Ahuizotl and Daring Do.

The figure was a pony, a male unicorn to be exact. The pony's body was completely covered from head to hoof in armor; armor that was unlike anything Daring Do had ever seen before. The armor was blood red; it shimmered dimly against gold colored markings that curved out like blades on the tip of each hoof sleeve. The markings almost looked like they were some sort of virus or thorn vine strangling the armor sleeves. The chest plate sported a strange logo at its center: a chrome pony skull with curved fangs, fractured halves of a sun, a moon and a heart with wings circled around the skull. Inside the chrome skull's eye sockets were two small emeralds that glowed with electrical energies. The armor completely covered the pony's flank; hiding his cutie mark and making it impossible to see a trace of fur or flesh on his body. The tail was covered by a spike coated shell that looked more like a morning star than a tail. The back of the pony's helmet and neckline featured a straight line of different gems, bone fragments and half melted jewelry.

"What's the matter Miss Do? Does my appearance disturb you?"

Daring Do swallowed hard at the pony's question. Yes, it disturbed her immeasurably; **everything** about this pony disturbed her. But what truly terrified her about this pony were his eyes…the only visible part of the pony's true appearance. The eyes were black, soulless, nothing but a pair of inky orbs with dark neon orange irises that surged like little lightning bolts inside those pools of never ending darkness. The eyes contrasted with the cold, dark red helmet mask that covered his entire head and face; adding a creepy echo effect to his already intimidating voice. Daring Do spotted a slot for the unicorn's horn at the top of the helmet; though oddly enough there were rows of Phoenix and Griffin feathers grafted across the top and back of the helmet in a Mowhawk like style as well.

Daring could feel every muscle in her toned legs quaking with fright, everything about this pony made her feel uneasy. She'd survived poisonous snakes, crushing spiked walls, flesh tearing carnivores and ancient booby traps…but none of those ever produced the same kind of dread and fear she was experiencing when she looked at this armored abomination.

The armored pony chuckled "Yes, I tend to have that effect on everyone." The armored pony approached Daring Do, she slowly inched back every step he took towards her. "Or...could it be that you notice something very familiar about my armor?" He stopped in his tracks; smirking wickedly at the frightened mare.

Daring Do gulped "T-t-t-that's the helmet of Diabolikuff your wearing and…and THAT there; that's the iron tail shell of Hannibal hooves." Her eyes continued to notice the pony's armor sections; she pointed a hoof at each one in alarm. "That's the Ghoulock braces of Baltimare's forbidden chasm. And along your back…that…that looks like scales from a sea serpent, a dragon's spinal bone AND Manticore talons?"

The armored pony smirked "Such a clever little mare, aren't you?" He pointed to his helmet, followed by his chest plate. "Don't forget the ancient thunder claw cuffs from the leader of the legendary cursed Reaper stallion clan AND the indestructible Star swirl center plate; crafted and empowered by the great one himself: Starswirl the bearded."

Daring Do kept her distance from both Ahuizotl and this metal masked maniac, everything about this situation had gone from bad to _lethal_!

_I can't believe this. How did this guy get ahold of all those powerful pony artifacts? Any one of those items alone would make some pony a force to be reckoned with, but this nut case has made an entire suit of armor out of them! I've never heard of anyone ever doing that before. Heck, only a small few ponies in all of Equestria know about some of those artifacts; so how did this guy know about them and what kind of magic can he wield with them all put together? I've got to tell some pony about this. The princesses must know!_

"So who the hay are you, what's this trade you're doing with old jackal jaws here? And furthermore, how did you get all those priceless pony artifacts together like that? THAT kind of power has been unheard of for centuries. Even I don't know everything about them and no pony in Equestria knows more about artifacts than me."

"My name is Khan…Chimera Khan; soon to be KING Khan as a matter of fact. As for my business with Ahuizotl, it does not concern you but it DOES concern my ruling of Equestria."

Daring do frowned and scoffed. "Oh please! Equestria is already ruled by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Not to mention Princess Cadence and Princess Twilight and I don't see any of them giving some metal faced freak like you a crown anytime soon."

"HA! Those pathetic peace spreaders will be nothing but piles of dust and bones once I reach FULL power." The armored pony's eyes surged with glowing orange sparks. "My mastery over the ancient magic's of these combined artifacts will leave me with no equal; I will crush and conquer each and every town, village and kingdom until MY kingdom is the only one left standing. Every Stallion, mare and foal will obey me or be obliterated by me."

"You're insane. Nothing but a sick, heartless monster messing with forces you can't possibly control!"

Daring Do positioned herself into a tackling position; ready and willing to slam this psychopathic pony down with all her might. Khan shook his armored head and laughed at Daring's intensely driven face. Ahuizotl remained on the sidelines; snickering with dark delight at this sudden turn of events.

"Come now Miss Do, you can't possibly be this stupid and arrogant to believe you stand a chance against the likes of me. You said it yourself; you know better than any pony what these items can do, so surely you must know you can't win."

The masked pony was right. No matter how fast she was, how clever she was or how many dangerous situations she had wriggled her way out of…Daring Do can't stop so powerful an evil on her own.

Daring Do chuckled softly.

"Your right actually…that's why I decided to take a page out of _your _book."

The Pegasus bolted towards Ahuizotl; her hooves quickly snatched the metal box from his paws before the cowardly villain could even blink. He blinked in shock at his own empty paws. Daring Do soared high above both villains, raising the box above her head. She knew that with all that magical firepower Chimera Khan was packing; the only way she could hurt him is to keep him from getting what he wants. Ahuizotl's rage turned his face from blue to bright red.

Khan stared intensely at Daring Do. "Clever girl, I can see why you've been giving my trading associate here so much trouble."

"Curse you Daring Do!" Ahuiztol growled; raising his fist in the air.

"Trouble is exactly what you got yourself into Khan. I don't know a lick about you but I DO know that whatever's inside here is valuable, and unless you want me to drop this into a quicksand pit or an active volcano; I suggest you back off and let me fly on out of here."

Khan's burning gaze never left the skies; completely devoid of any visible emotion under all that armor. Daring hated to admit it but this creep had her spooked, so much so that she'd rather run and tell the princesses about this new threat than worry about sticking around to maintain her pride.

_All I need is to keep this guy back as long as possible. Once I get far enough, I'll head to Rainbow Dash and have her friend Twilight contact the princesses. Whatever's in this box can't be good if guys like these are after it.  
><em>

Ahuizotl started heading towards a tree, no doubt trying to find a vantage point high enough to reach Daring Do. Khan raised a spiked knuckle hoof; ordering Ahuizotl to stand down. The jackal creature hesitated but eventually obeyed his armored ally.

"You know you're quite lucky Miss Do." Khan glared fiercely at Daring Do, dark magic circling his armored body like cyclone of electricity and raw power. "I could just blast you right out of the sky and put you into _**permanent **_retirement right here, right now!"

Daring Do sweated furiously but remained stern in her appearance and her threat. "You could…but," she raised the box high above her head. "You'd risk vaporizing this item along with me and something tells me you're not willing to risk that."

Khan powered down slowly; his dark voice chuckling softly. "Quite right my dear; quite right. What's say we dispense with the threats and violence and get right down to the business I came here for in the first place: trading."

"There's nothing you could offer that would convince me to give you what you want."

"Are you so sure?"

Daring Do looked at Khan inquisitively, she didn't like the sound of confidence in his voice. The author clutched the box to her chest and remained in the air.

Khan turned his head towards some bushes on the right. "CROWE! Get your worthless flank out here now, and bring our special guest." Khan's evil gaze turned back to Daring Do. "Miss Do needs to see what we brought to trade."

The bushes quaked and the faint sound of grumbling and whimpering could be heard coming from them. A lone Earth pony colt emerged from the bushes; carrying the tied end of a burlap sack in his teeth. The colt had a pale vanilla colored coat, dirty blond colored mane and royal blue colored eyes. The colt's cutie mark was that of a long dagger; the blade was wrapped in a binding of barb wire and rose thorns. Crowe was silently muttering how annoyed he was having to put up with the squirming sack. The colt brought the bag in front of Chimera Khan; who glared scornfully at Crowe for taking so long to bring the bag out. Crowe gulped and bowed submissively, fearful of his master's wrath. The colt slowly backed away from Khan and stood behind him quietly.

"I'm sure you recognize this particular mane Miss Do" Khan said, pointing at the bottom of the bag where a single mane tail poked out of a hole in the bag. Daring Do gasped as she recognized the tail, even from high above she could clearly tell who that mane tail belonged to: Rainbow Dash! "Ahuizotl told me ALL about your number one fan here, so I took the liberty of acquiring her in order to make sure this transaction went smoothly."

Daring Do looked in utter horror as her cyan colored friend struggled uselessly in that bag, at the mercy of this monster of a pony. How dare he use one of her friends as a bargaining chip like that! The tanned Pegasus felt her stomach churn, her blood boiling with furious anger at this masked stallion.

"Let her go RIGHT NOW!"

Khan raised his hoof above the bag, clearly threatening to crush the squirming pony inside. Daring Do clenched up; nearly falling from the sky from the shock of seeing Khan's murderous threat.

"It's quite simple Miss Do: surrender the item to me and leave us in peace and I will release your Pegasus friend unharmed. Refuse or try to snatch her from me and I will crush her head like a melon! This is a one-time offer and it's non-negotiable. So, what's it going-"

"All right, I'll do it.

Khan, Crowe and Ahuizotl blinked in unified shock. None of the villains expected Daring Do to give in; at least not that quickly! Daring Do sighed softly and dropped to the ground. The tanned Pegasus approached Khan and set the box down in front of him, Khan remained stunned in silence.

"What? Aren't you happy you got what you came for you sick freak?"

Khan frowned at Daring Do's cold response but quickly dismissed it. "Indeed I am, I'm just a bit surprised at how quickly you surrendered." Khan motioned for Crowe to push the bagged Rainbow Dash towards Daring Do. Crowe groaned as he nuzzled the bag towards the Pegasus and took the box, he immediately backed away from Daring and presented the box to his master. Khan smirked at Daring, "I would have expected someone of your reputation to resist or at least make it seem like it was a hard decision."

"Before Rainbow and her friends came to see me, I probably would have. But after they helped me defeat Ahuizotl I knew that my whole loner routine wasn't going to work for me anymore. I realized how special and precious a good friend can be. No matter what evil purpose you plan to use this item for, no matter how much jeopardy Equestria is put into because of it; none of it is worth risking a friend's life over."

Ahuizotl and Chimera Khan looked at each other before simultaneously bursting with maniacal laughter. Crowe waited until his master laughed before he joined in; nervously chuckling only after his master gave his approval. Daring Do frowned with disgust at the villains mocking her heartfelt sentiment and decided she should just take Rainbow Dash and go.

"Don't worry Rainbow; I'll get you out of there. Just hold still a minute."

Daring Do wrapped her hooves around the bag and quickly untied it, desperate to get her flying friend out of that filthy bag. However, once Daring Do removed the sack completely; she discovered that it was not Rainbow Dash at all. The squirming being was green, scaly, sporting reptilian bat like wings and a red spiked lizard tail. It seems the rainbow mane tail was merely a fake attached to the creature's real tail. The creature also had the legs of a chicken and the head of a chicken too, plus blood red eyes and fangs inside the beak. Daring Do gasped as the chicken reptile creature stared right into her eyes with a glaring flash.

"Oh no! It's a cockatr-"

The author's words trailed off as her lips suddenly turned to solid stone. Daring Do's body froze all over, everything from her hooves to her wings turned to rock in a matter of seconds. The Pegasus dropped on her side, forever frozen in stone in a state of shock at the true creature stored inside the bag: a cockatrice!

Chimera Khan generated an energy glow around his enchanted armor, the cockatrice responded to the glow as if hypnotized by it. The cockatrice closed its eyes, bowed its head and obediently backed away from the armored pony. Khan approached the petrified Pegasus and placed his metallic hoof upon her head.

"HA! Just look at you now miss Do. So helpless…so lifeless…so pathetic, you never stood a chance against my intellect; let alone my power." Khan reared back his hoof and kicked Daring Do to Ahuizotl. The armored pony smirked; though it was hidden due to his mask. "As promised, Daring Do put out of commission permanently; in exchange for the item we discussed. I take it you are satisfied?"

Ahuizotl stared in awe at Daring Do; he was completely flabbergasted at how easily she was defeated. The blue jackal had tried to take out the annoying author for months but was met with failure every time. His paws poked Daring Do nervously, like a child poking a dead body with a stick; trying to confirm she was indeed frozen.

"I can't believe it; I just simply cannot believe it! Daring Do is FINALLY out of my fur. I knew you said you could deliver her to me on a silver platter, but I had no idea you could actually pull it off so easily!"

Khan silently scoffed at Ahuiztol's lack of faith.

"If you are _quite _satisfied, I suggest we continue the deal now? I fulfilled my end of the bargain Ahuizotl; now show me what you brought me."

Shaken out of his state of shock, Ahuizotl quickly composed himself and picked up the metal box off the ground with his tail paw. The armored pony widened his eyes with ravenous interest. Ahuizotl slowly opened the box; revealing a broken blood red unicorn horn with grey coloring at the bottom of the broken base. Khan smiled a most sinister and wicked smile.

"As promised; for delivering to me my most hated enemy, I give you the horn of the darkest unicorn that ever trotted across Equestria: King Sombra!"

Khan's horn beamed with dark orange energy. He used his magic to lift the red horn from the box and place it across the horn holster where his own horn jutted from his mask. The horn clasped onto Khan's own horn; like snapping a jar lid shut. The horns sparked a powerful surge of black, red and orange energy upon contact. Ahuizotl backed away nervously from Khan.

"Yes….yes….YESSSSSSS! I can feel the dark unicorn's powerful magic surging in me, feeding me, making me stronger than ever." Khan's body became fully charged with the red, black and orange glow; electricity and sonic vibrations pulsated off his armored body. Both Crowe and Ahuizotl watched nervously at the armored pony's dark aura. Khan turned his gaze to Ahuizotl and chuckled "Congratulations Ahuizotl, you've done well. This horn is indeed the genuine article."

Ahuizotl nervously gulped "W-w-w-w-why of course Chimera K-k-khan, I wouldn't dream of giving you a f-f-fake. It wasn't an easy item to get my paws on you know. I had to scavenge around the outskirts of the Crystal empire for hours; remaining hidden as b-b-best I c-c-c-could. There wasn't much left of Sombra after he was d-d-destroyed."

"This was all I needed. Already I feel my armor and my magic increasing a hundred fold thanks to the dark powers of Sombra's horn." Khan suddenly became silent, his eyes squinting into an intensive glare. "But…it's still not enough. I will need to acquire more magical items if I want to fully control the forces of nature."

"Is that how you were able to control the Cockatrice so easily?"

"Of course you jabbering jackal!"

Ahuizotl flinched at Khan's sudden outburst, he quickly motioned his lips being shut and nervously nodded. Khan looked to Crowe and motioned for him to follow him. The armored pony began exiting the clearing, Crowe and the cockatrice followed their armored master with their heads hanging down.

"Our business is concluded Ahuizotl. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm on a bit of a scavenger hunt you see and the sooner I add these items to my collection….the sooner all of Equestria will be mine!"

* * *

><p>To be continued…<p> 


	2. The Letter

**Chapter 2: The Letter**

_Nukem: Wow! I've never gotten favorites AND reviews that fast, you guys are truly awesome. I wanted to get this up sooner but I needed to do some fixing/tweaking to make sure it was JUST right. BIG NOTICE: This is an alternate take on the end of Season 4. I avoided using Twilight's new castle because honestly, I knew the creators put it in for a reason and that there's something special to it so I didn't really wanna "touch" it so I went around it so to speak and kept Twilight's old home. Also, I've developed a pic for my OC Moonstruck and working on pictures for my future OC's (except for Khan; he's too complicated for me to design online). I will eventually put links to the pics for those who want to see my OC's for this fic. I don't own anything or anyone related to MLP: FIM, all rights belong to Hasbro except my OC's Moonstruck, Crowe and Chimera Khan. Enjoy!_

* * *

><p>Ponyville glistened in the shimmer of the bright and beautiful weather on this fine, sunny afternoon day. The Pegasi had truly outdone themselves today. Ponies were out and about: walking, talking, laughing and enjoying their lives as if nothing dangerous had ever happened.<p>

But a few months ago that was not the case at all.

A powerful villain known as Tirek caused much destruction in Ponyville, most noticeably to Princess Twilight's home; which was also the town library. The library was completely vaporized during Tirek's attack and Twilight, Spike and their pet owl; Owlicious were left without a home. Thankfully, the Rainbow chest provided Twilight with enough magic to restore her home back; along with all of her much treasured books.

"Ready my number one assistant?"

A small purple dragon turned to his winged Alicorn friend with a freshly inked quill and a parchment in claw.

"Come on Twilight; you should know I'm _always _ready."

Twilight smiled at Spike's eagerness. The purple Alicorn looked around her home with a sigh of relief, pausing to remind herself that this was real and her home really was back exactly the way it was. Every book, every step, every inch of it was back as if nothing had ever happened at all. Whether it was battling the forces of evil or feeling frustrated with a pony's personal problems; Twilight always could feel those problems melt away when she was home.

Twilight closed her eyes, cleared her throat and reopened her eyes. "All right then Spike, let's begin. **Dear Princess Celestia**: thanks to the magic of the Rainbow chest; I was able to restore my home back to its original state without any trouble."The purple Alicorn looked out towards a window."While I appreciate your suggestion of using the magic to create a castle to properly fit my 'princess' title, I feel more at home in simpler accommodations than living in some lavish palace. Ponyville is my home and I feel more at home in its library than anywhere else in Equestria."

Twilight's dictation was interrupted by a sudden knock at the door.

"I'll get it Twilight" Spike quickly said. The dragon put his quill into the same claw carrying the scroll. Spike approached the door and opened it. "Hi there, so what I can do for-" Spike's voice suddenly dropped upon seeing who was at the door. His green eyes had turned into pulsating pink hearts; scaly lips curving into a goofy smile that grew wider and wider.

Twilight rolled her eyes at her assistant's behavior. "Based on _that _reaction, I can only guess who's at the door" Twilight said with a dash of sarcasm in her voice.

Spike looked dreamily up at the white unicorn that had knocked: Rarity. The breathtakingly beautiful snow white pony giggled at Spike's reaction. The pony's shimmering purple mane bounced with each jiggling chuckle, Rarity never got tired of seeing Spike like that.

Spike shook himself back to reality and laughed nervously, his purple claws fumbling behind his back. "H-h-h-hello R-r-rarity, beautiful pony were seeing. ACK! I mean, beautiful day were dating. NO! I didn't mean date, what I mean is y-y-you look lovely today and so does the weather." Twilight slapped her face with her hoof and groaned. "Wait, let me start over. I meant the day is beautiful not you; n-n-no I mean you're beautiful too of course, obviously! I mean who would doubt that? Not that any pony would but, if the day was lousy then every pony could be comforted by your radiance AH! I meant beauty or did I mean beautiful, did I say that already?"

The dragon slapped his mouth shut with his free claw, silencing himself before he said anything else stupid. Rarity simply smiled and shook her head.

Twilight smiled to her designer friend "So then, what I can help you with Rarity? Come to check out the new place." Rarity blinked curiously at the word "new." Twilight shook her head and laughed, "Well sort of new."

"Actually darling, I was hoping if you would be so kind as to let me know when Spike would be available to help me out with something."

"Well actually; he was in the middle of helping me-"

Twilight was cut off when Spike buzzed like a bullet between Twilight and Rarity. The purple dragon bowed to the white unicorn, "Your wish is my command oh fair and lovely lady Rarity."

"AHEM! Spike, I thought you were helping me with this!" Twilight said, yanking the letter from Spike's claws. The pony waved the letter in front of Spike's face.

Rarity bit her lip softly, "Now I wouldn't want to impose Twilight. It's just I have a VERY important matter to attend to later tonight and I've got so much work I have to catch up on, it would be such a big relief if I could simply have sweet Spiky Wikey help me get done in time."

Spike smiled and turned to Rarity, seemingly ignoring the letter and Twilight. "Oh yeah I can totally help you with that stuff right now." The dragon turned back to Twilight and the letter, "Let me take care of that for you Twilight."

Spike belched a blast of green fire and engulfed the letter. Twilight gasped as the letter vanished before her eyes and teleported to Princess Celestia, slightly stunned at how quickly Spike zapped the letter from her hooves.

"After you, my lady" Spike said with another, chivalrous bow.

Rarity smiled sweetly at the dragon's gesture and proudly pranced out the door, quickly waving goodbye to Twilight as she does. Spike also waved to Twilight and walked out the door; shutting it behind him.

"Hey, Spike!" Twilight snorted angrily, the Alicorn princess rushed to the door and opened it with her magic. "I wasn't finished yet, get back here and FINISH THAT LETTER!"

Twilight blinked as she suddenly realized that Spike and Rarity were long gone…and she had been yelling out in the open to all of Ponyville. Numerous ponies looked at Twilight with confusion. The purple princess blushed sheepishly and sighed in heavy embarrassment.

"HEY TWILIGHT" Pinkie Pie screamed. Twilight gasped and fell onto her rump, ears straining from Pinkie's sudden screech. Pinkie smiled, oblivious to her friend's ear ache and leaned forward. "Gee, that's a funny place to sit. Actually it would be funnier if you sat on a banana cream pie; or maybe a chocolate cream pie." Pinkie's eyes bulged out wide, she began licking her lips. "Yeah and it could be filled with chocolate chips. Then you'd have a chocolate chip plot, then we'd call you smarty pants because you've got chocolate on your pants and everyone KNOWS ponies with chocolate on their pants are smarty pants."

Twilight didn't even have the slightest clue how to reply to that statement. Pinkie bent down and helped Twilight back to her hooves. The pink party pony was skipping up and down with unbridled joy, always smiling and always cheerful as Ponyville's number one super party pony should be.

"We'd have to get you some pants though first." Pinkie ceased jumping and scratched her chin, appearing deep in thought. "I mean, you can't call some pony smarty pants without pants; that just wouldn't make sense at all."

"Yeah….THAT'S the part that doesn't make sense" Twilight groaned sarcastically.

"Sooooooo you excited about the party tomorrow night? Cause you know I am!"

"Hmmm what party is that Pinkie?"

Twilight genuinely wasn't sure which party Pinkie was referring to. The pink mare throws so many parties over the most ridiculous and bizarre reasons, it's hard to keep track of them all.

Pinkie gasped "How could you forget? It's the super awesome welcome-all-the-new-ponies-to-Ponyville-who-came-because-they-heard-we-beat-a-super-evil-goat-guy-with-magical-rainbow-powers-congratulations party!"

"Oh yeah…how could I possibly forget a party with that name" Twilight rolled her eyes, "Must have slipped my mind."

However, Pinkie was right about one thing: Ponyville sure was popular since Tirek's defeat. Tirek affected countless ponies all over Equestria so it should come as no surprise that the news of Twilight and her friend's battling with him spread like wildfire. Ponies came from all over Equestria; some to visit and meet the 6 "heroes" and others who decided to move to Ponyville and stay. Twilight couldn't remember the last time her little town was so lively with so many new faces, seems like a good a reason as any to throw a party.

Twilight placed her hoof on Pinkie's shoulder and smiled. "Thanks for the reminder Pinkie, now I hate to cut this short but I've got to get back to my letter to Princess Celestia. Some pony or rather some _dragon _was supposed to finish it but he got…ahem…distracted."

Pinkie nodded and happily bounced along her way; humming to herself. Twilight returned to her home and closed the door behind her.

"Now then…where was I" Twilight said, magically lifting a new scroll and quill to resume her letter. "Dear Princess Celestia….again."

* * *

><p>Moonstruck trembled nervously in the brief patches of shadows he could find in the sunny and cheerful town of Ponyville. The dark unicorn constantly surveyed the landscape, frantic and frightened at the possibility of being discovered.<p>

_I knew this was a stupid idea, I knew this was a TERRIBLY stupid idea! What kind of idiot hides in the town where Princess Celestia's number one student lives AND is a princess herself?! I can't believe my rotten luck. First I lose the best hiding spot in all of Equestria, now I find out Princess Twilight lives here too. Why'd I even come here in the first place?_

Thunderous rumblings began to gurgle from Moonstruck's vacant and barren stomach, the unicorn clutched his gut and dropped to his knees in pain. The escaped pony was painfully reminded why he stopped at this town.

_That's right, I haven't eaten in days and this was the closest town around. There are more discrete places to hide in but…ugh…I don't think I would make it much farther without getting something to eat._

Moonstruck continued to scurry in the darkness of the alleyways of Ponyville, hugging his dark purple fur under his cloak as tightly as possible. Ironically, Moonstruck knew that Twilight was the only pony in all of Equestria powerful enough to possibly be able to help him with his "problem;" even if she was Celestia's number one student.

_It's not going to be easy but…if I can reason with Princess Twilight then maybe she can reason with Princess Celestia and convince her not to send me back to Tartarus. Maybe she could also break this…whatever it is that's inhibiting most of my magic. Any pony that could defeat Tirek after he had absorbed all the magic in Equestria HAS to know all kinds of powerful spells._

Thoughts of clearing his name and breaking his curse were dashed by a crashing sound. Moonstruck gasped and leaned his body up against the nearest wall, his hooves desperately tried to hide his emerald green mane locks from falling out of his dark hood.

"Honey, could you be a dear and throw out that batch that just came out of the oven? I'm afraid it got burnt, I know it's wasteful but no one's going to want to eat those."

The purple unicorn curiously crept towards the source of that voice. The voice was female; slightly older and had a sweet motherly like tone. The pony gasped at the source of the voice.

"What in Equestria is that place?! I feel like I'm getting a tooth ache just looking at it."

Moonstruck had spotted a large gingerbread like store; it had cupcakes on its roof and white cream frosting all along the roof edges like plaster. The building was some kind of sweet shop. Moonstruck had never seen any structure like this before; he pulled his hood down slightly to get a better look. It appeared that the voice was emanating from the back of the shop. The unicorn cautiously moved towards the back of the shop, hiding behind a number of silver trash cans.

The back door opened and outstepped a gangly, yellow colored Earth pony with orange hair and a red and white stripped hat; with matching bow tie. "Sure thing sugar plum" the pony said, no doubt speaking to the female who appeared to be his wife. The yellow pony chucked a pair of bags into the garbage cans and then went back into the shop.

Moonstruck slowly poked his head out. "Oh man, I was so sure he was going to spot me here for a second", Moonstruck wiped sweat from his brow. The purple stallion eyed the two bags that the Earth pony had tossed out, they reflected in his silver eyes like glowing treasure chests. Moonstruck opened up the two bags: one was full of burnt rainbow candy stuffed cookies and the other was muffins that appeared to be stale. Moonstruck swallowed loudly. "I don't care if this stuff is burnt or old; it's the best food I've seen in days." The pony looked around to make sure he wasn't being watched, he then quickly began scarfing down the trashed treats. Globs of saliva and crumbs dribbled down Moonstruck's lips as he swallowed.

"Here, try the cake. The frosting is delicious!"

Moonstruck quickly grabbed the cake being offered by Pinkie and scarfed it down in seconds. The dark pony sighed happily, he wiped his mouth and coat clean with his horn's magic.

"Oh man you weren't kidding about that cake. I can't remember the last time I ate something so sublime, thank you."

"You're very welcome weird Raccoon pony guy."

A brief moment of silence erupted between the pink and purple ponies. Moonstruck had apparently been so hungry he didn't realize Pinkie Pie had spotted him, approach him and offered him a large slice of cake. The unicorn's eyes bulged like baseballs in shock.

"AHHHHHHHH" Moonstruck screamed. He quickly backed away from Pinkie Pie, his cloak tearing partially on one of the trash can lids. "Oh no this is bad this is very, very, VERY bad", Moonstruck sweated furiously and began chewing on his hooves.

"Huh? Weird raccoon pony guy isn't that bad of a name is it? I mean you're a pony but you're eating trash like a raccoon: hence Weird pony raccoon guy."

"I can't go back, I can't go back. You have to forget you saw me; please." Moonstruck rushed to Pinkie's hooves, he got on his knees and desperately begged her. His silver eyes screaming with unfathomable fear. "This never happened I'm not here, just forget we met or had this conversation at all. I'm begging you Pinkie."

The party pony was puzzled; nothing this stranger was saying was making any sense to her. Pinkie Pie was usually the one who said random nonsensical things. One thing Pinkie was certain of: something was freaking this pony out.

"Wait how did you know my name? Every pony who's my friend knows my name but I don't remember being friends with you? Ooh! Wanna be friends? Wait, what do you mean you're not here? Is this like a new way to play hide and seek?" Pinkie giggled at the thought of a game. Moonstruck froze and stared blankly at Pinkie Pie's words. "I love games! Okay I found you so that means it's MY turn to play reverse hide and seek." The unicorn remained speechless; he slowly stood back up and stared at the pink pony.

"I have seen many strange creatures in the past 2 years but you are by far the absolute weirdest living thing I have ever come across."

Pinkie rolled her eyes and giggled. "Silly, I'm not a weird living thing; I'm Pinkie Pie." Pinkie's face quickly became serious and stern. "Now the time for chit chat has passed, now is the time for GAMES!" Moonstruck tried to say something but Pinkie pie shoved her hoof into his mouth. "Hey you already had your turn buddy. Now it's my turn to walk backwards and reverse hide while you keep up with me and watch me the entire time, got it? Great!"

Pinkie Pie removed her hoof and began to walk backwards, her baby blue eyes never losing contact with Moonstruck's silver ones. The purple unicorn continued to stand there without moving a muscle or saying a word. Pinkie Pie continued walking backwards and keeping her eyes locked on Moonstruck until she walked out of sight, eyes straining to maintain a lock on Moonstruck as long as possible. The dark pony pulled down his cloak and rubbed his jungle green hair.

"What the hell just happened?!"

Moonstruck knew he would never get an answer to that question, and yet he asked it anyway. The unicorn quickly hid his mane under his hood and continued to scurry through the nooks and crannies of Ponyville. Even though he had been spotted, Moonstruck was hopeful that crazy pink pony wasn't going to tell any pony about what she saw and even if she did; no pony would believe her…or so he hoped.

_I can't allow a slip up like that to happen again. I need to find a new hiding spot before anyone else sees me, then I can recharge my magic and work out some spells to use in case I need protection. Hmmm, I remember hearing some pony mention some farm fields not too far from here…which means there could be a barn. _

The escaped convict was set on using the local barn as his hiding place; his hooves pace quickened but remained as quiet as possible. Moonstruck burst like a shadowy bullet in search of that farm.

_It's not as secure as my last hiding spot but it'll have to do!_

* * *

><p><em>Meanwhile at Carousel Boutique…<em>

Rarity hummed a sweet little tune while rummaging her hooves through a clothing rack. "I just want to thank you again ever so much for helping me out today darling." Content with an outfit choice, Rarity walked towards a makeup mirror. The unicorn batted her fluttering eyelashes at the mirror. "I never could have gotten this done without you Spikey Wikey."

Spike paused while carrying a stack of fabrics upon hearing that nickname, a warm; innocent smile spread from cheek to cheek.

"Awe Rarity" his cheeks blushed into the most adorable shade of red, his claws nervously dropping the clothes. Rarity's little nickname for him always made him feel special inside; as if it was a treasure that he and he alone possessed. "You don't gotta thank me," Spike quickly picked up the fabrics and resumed putting them onto Rarity's neatly color coordinated fabric shelf. "It's my genuine pleasure."

Rarity stared into the mirror; using her horn magic to apply make-up and sparkles to her cheeks and purple mane. "I do hope I wasn't taking you away from anything terribly important with Twilight." The unicorn spritzed mists of crystal blue colored perfume towards her neck. "I'm so used to taking care of everything around here by myself; I never needed an assistant; except for right now of course. But I imagine with all of Twilight's studying and organization it makes perfect sense."

Spike rolled his eyes, "More like perfect craziness if you ask me. Twilight checks, double checks and TRIPLE checks everything so many times; it's a wonder I can get anything done at all. If she gets any nuttier; she's gonna make Pinkie Pie look normal by comparison."

Rarity found it impossible not to giggle at that remark.

_Oh man…that laugh_. Spike found his purple scales frozen once more, his hands locked around the basket of buttons he was carrying. _How could such a simple thing as a laugh sound like the most beautiful song in the world?_ The young dragon placed the basket on Rarity's work shelf. Spike continued to clean up but could not resist turning his head in Rarity's direction every few seconds. _Even though things didn't work out with Applejack *sigh* I sure wouldn't mind owing a life debt to Rarity. Working for a goddess like her sounds simply __**heavenly**__…_

Rarity began slipping a gorgeous dark pink colored dress over her head. "Did you say something sweetie?"

Spike bit his scaly lip and immediately slapped his claws over his mouth. The dragon must have unconsciously let one of his inner thoughts slip out, he began to sweat and tremble with panic.

"Uh n-n-n-nothing Rarity just uhhhh wanted to know if I did a good job cleaning up the place or not." The dragon desperately wanted to change the subject. "So are you um maybe almost done by chance?"

The unicorn slowly turned to Spike from the mirror. Rarity had indeed finished "making herself look presentable" as she had put it, her sparkling blue eyes desperately seeking the young dragon's approval.

"Now darling, PLEASE be honest…what do you think?"

Rarity was dressed in a sleek, exotic pink dress that revealed her creamy white chest in the front; a curling train slipped down over her hind legs and curled under her purple tail. The dress curved in such a way that allowed her curvaceous flank and sparkling diamond cutie mark to be displayed in all of its radiant glory. The cuffs on the sleeves were a lighter shade of pink than the rest of the dress. Upon Rarity's hind hooves was a pair of sparkling ocean blue slippers; much like Cinderella's. The shade of blue sparkled as if the heavens above had been compacted into those beautifully worn shoes. A black choker rested upon Rarity's slender neck, coupled with a dazzling blue gemstone necklace that dangled 3 smaller blue diamonds below it. A pair of earrings matching the gemstone necklace shined brightly from the unicorn's ears. Topping everything off was a pair of shimmering silver chopstick like needles sitting in her purple mane; curled in a slight "wild" curl on one side.

Spike stared at Rarity; hypnotized and completely enchanted by the mare of his dreams standing before him in one of her most exotic and beautiful dresses yet. _I can't believe it…she's even MORE beautiful than before_. Spike's cheeks turned bright red, his green eyes shining with Rarity's radiant reflection. _This is just too much. How can I look at this pure, white, majestic angel and NOT fall head over hooves in love with her? I know every pony isn't totally cool with me crushing on Rarity but…I just can't help myself._

"Spike, Spike are you all right?"

_Why do my feelings have to always be questioned and doubted just because I'm a dragon? Is it really that weird that I'm majorly crushing on Rarity? More importantly, does __**she **__think it's weird that I like her this much? Oh I just can't think straight when my heart is pounding so hard inside my chest!_

"Yoo-hoo Spiiiiiiiike, are you even listening to me? Spike?"

_She's just so beautiful, so sweet and kind and that voice gah…it melts my scales like butter every time. Maybe I can finally talk to her about these feelings I have. Ever since my birthday, I've wanted to tell her about how I dream about her and how I love that her scent stays with me even after I leave her shop. Yeah! You can do this Spike; it's now or never; just be like Rainbow Dash. Be brave, be daring and say-_

"SPIKE!"

Rarity's very unladylike scream jolted the dragon out his day dream.

"GAH! S-s-s-sorry about that Rarity, guess I just got a little…heh…lost there."

The unicorn smiled at Spike, a genuine smile of true affection and caring; one that Spike had always hoped she would bless him with. Something in Rarity's mind seemed to shift when she saw Spike's reaction to her dress. The young dragon had been looking at her not with perversion or immature thoughts like most colts would have. No, Spike looked at her with complete and utter admiration; quite an adorable look for the young dragon actually.

Rarity giggled "It's quite all right darling, in fact; I think you probably gave me the best compliment a pony could have asked for." She leaned in and nuzzled Spike's cheek, her perfume and mane gently brushing against his scaly cheeks. "You truly are too sweet for words my dear, _dear _Spikey Wikey." Rarity pulled her head back and smiled softly.

"Gee Rarity I just…I just don't know what to say." The unicorn waved her hoof at Spike, indicating he didn't need to say a word. She began heading towards the door. Spike scratched his head, trying to remember something he wanted to ask Rarity before she left. "Oh I almost forgot", the dragon snapped his claws. "You never told me what the reason was you had to get everything done so fast. I'm guessing for some kind of fancy art show?"

"Oh no nothing like that dear; I'm going on a date."

_BANG!_

Spike froze like he had just seen some pony get stabbed with a sword. The purple dragon slowly tilted his head to his chest, almost like he was checking to see if his heart cracked just a little. "Oh…I see" Spike slumped, his tail drooping down. "Yeah…I…guess I should have figured that."

Rarity reached for the door; quickly checking her mane in a mirror one last time. "Ever since Ponyville has gotten all this attention over that Tirek ordeal, my business has been flourishing marvelously! Not to mention the new stallions that have moved here; that's who I'm seeing tonight. It's someone new in town, he's such a charmer and SO dapper; I can't wait to see what-"

Rarity stopped suddenly, her eyes leaving the mirror and latching onto a rather gloomy looking Spike. The unicorn was truly perplexed. Spike was his usual adorable, smiling self a few seconds ago; now he looks like someone ripped up his favorite comic book.

"Is everything all right Spike?"

Not wanting her to see his sadness, Spike shook his head and recomposed himself. "Oh yeah it's nothing; just got some dust in my eyes. You know, from all the cleaning and loose threads in the air." Spike forced a weak smile upon his face. Rarity looked at him with concern and confusion; the dragon rushed to her behind and started pushing her slowly out the door. "Enough chit chat; you've got a lucky very date to greet."

"But Spike; are you absolutely sure-"

"No, no, no don't worry about it; really. And don't worry about locking up; I'll take care of that before I leave. Now go on and enjoy your date."

SLAM!

Rarity stood outside of her shop, blinking at the unusual behavior and speed in which Spike displayed in order to get her out of the shop. She looked to the door and pondered about opening it up and asking Spike what really was wrong. Unfortunately her date would be starting soon and Rarity didn't want to dare let herself be late after spending so much time preparing herself.

"Well he did say he was all right. Still, something did seem off about little Spikey Wikey" Rarity shook her head and headed off to meet up with her date. "I'll have to ask Twilight later if she's noticed anything weird about Spike lately *giggle* plus it'll give me a perfect excuse to share with her all the 'hopefully' juicy details of my date." Rarity smiled happily and trotted off with an extra bounce in her step.

Shortly after Rarity left, Spike turned off the lights in the boutique and closed the door behind him. His claws clicked the lock shut and placed the key under the pot of roses; just where Rarity had told him to put it.

"I shouldn't be surprised; Rarity is a total knock out after all. It makes sense she'd get noticed." He looked out across Ponyville and let loose a heavy, defeated sigh. "All I gotta say that is one lucky guy, one very lucky." The dragon started heading towards home. _No wait…that's not right_. Spike stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder, a bitter frown forming.

"That is one lucky…pony."

* * *

><p>Darkness had settled in, Luna's beautiful night sky dazzled the shadowy heavens with the loveliest of stars. Twilight stared endlessly at the night sky. The alicorn seemed lost in the void of blackness and constellations; though her worried face indicated it was not astrology related. Ever since Spike came home, Twilight had been deeply concerned for her number one assistant. The purple dragon walked in, barely said 3 words, went up to bed and that was the last Twilight saw of him. Twilight's violet eyes shimmered with twinges of fear; fear of what might have been said or misunderstood between Rarity and Spike. The alicorn princess had always known of Spike's affections for Rarity but thought it was just puppy love that he'd eventually get over in time.<p>

But he didn't.

If anything, Spike's feelings for the fashionista had increased. Maybe seeing Rarity's super form made him even more love crazy for her or maybe it was the fear of potentially losing her during the battle with Tirek that made him realize time is precious and he should seize the day before it's too late.

Twilight shook her multicolored mane and sighed. "No Twilight, enough of this beating around the bush. The only way you're going to find out for sure is if you ask him." The purple pony slowly trotted up the stairs, a deep sigh escaping her lips. "He may not want to talk about it but I'm just going to have to put my hoof down and-"

The alicorn princess stopped in her tracks; a motherly smile warming her cheeks at the sweet sight before her eyes. Spike was asleep, hunched over a desk with a quill in one claw and a parchment underneath his drooling lips.

_Poor little guy, I haven't seen him work himself to sleep like this since he became jealous when Owlicious showed up_. Twilight smiled and used her magic to lift Spike off the desk and tuck him into bed, her aura raising the blanket just above spike's neck. _Sweet dreams number one assistant. Hopefully you'll be back to your usual cheerful self tomorrow._ Twilight was about to head downstairs when she stopped, her head turning towards the letter Spike had been writing. Celestia's name was at the top of the letter. The purple alicorn bit her lip and shifted uneasily, _Spike must have kept this letter private for a reason. I should respect his privacy but_, Twilight approached the desk and curiously examined the letter. _Maybe this will explain what's been bugging him._

Twilight's eyes widened, her gaze turned from soft to sad just after reading the letter. The alicorn looked at the letter and then looked at Spike in bed. Sorrow and sadness caused her voice to become soft and weak; like Fluttershy's.

"Oh Spike…oh poor, poor Spike" Twilight sniffed back tears and looked at Spike once more. "I had no idea."

* * *

><p>To be continued…<p> 


	3. Chance Encounters

**Chapter 3: Chance Encounters**

_Quick author's note before we begin, I just want to say THANK YOU to any and all who have favorited, reviewed or followed this story. Especially Captain Alaska for all his wonderful advice and support. Every bit helps and counts so for all those sticking by this story, you deserve a thunderous round of applause. Now for the chapter; this ended up being longer than I expected but I felt it was important to keep the "party" stuff all together in one chapter. I tried really hard to get Applejack's accent and Pinkie Pie's behavior right. I'd love to know from you guys if I got them right or not. I'm really hopeful this chapter came together as nicely as I think it did. All characters, references and content related to MLP: FIM belongs to Hasbro, I claim no ownership over any of the Pony cast except MY pony OC's. Well enough of my blabbering, enjoy! And if you like anything, let me know, if you don't like anything, let me know, got any questions? concerns? thoughts? feelings? Please let me know! _

* * *

><p>Spike awoke from his bed with a loud yawn; spewing out a few flames before closing his mouth. The purple dragon hopped out of bed and lazily scratched his gut. "Man I must have been really tired last night, I don't even remember getting into bed" Spike said; smacking his lips softly.<p>

It was at this time Spike realized he was WAY late in getting up and performing his daily chores, and yet, Twilight hadn't woken him up yet. The purple alicorn was so anal retentive on being thorough and getting everything done in an orderly and timely manner, that the last thing she would do is let Spike oversleep. The dragon peeked around the corner. Spike pressed his ear towards the staircase, waiting and listening for the inevitable screaming of his name from his motherly pony friend but instead heard nothing but silence.

"Huh…I could have sworn Twilight would have been all my over my tail by now." The dragon shrugged and smiled, his scaly feet stepping towards the staircase. "Oh well, don't want to tempt fate by taking any longer. Soon as I get my chores done I can get back to-" Spike suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. He scratched his small chin as his green eyes squinted. _Wait was I…working on something last night or was that just a dream? _Spike turned around and looked at the small desk he was working on last night; there was no sign of any parchment paper or quills. _I remember going to write a letter to Princess Celestia, I remember it being very important too; like I __**had**__ to get it done that night. But if I woke up in my bed then…where's the letter?_

The little dragon knew that the only other one around who would have seen the letter was Twilight, and maybe Owlicious. Of course, Spike had been feeling so down and sleepy that night that it's possible he dreamed the whole letter thing. Spike headed down to the library to get some answers. Twilight was already up of course, using her magic to continue her studies while simultaneously levitating breakfast into her mouth. Twilight smiled and greeted her scaly assistant with a "good morning", still locking her violet eyes on her floating study books.

"Sorry I'm so late Twilight. I was just super tired last night and I had the weirdest dream, it was so real." Spike scratched the side of his head, still debating on whether or not he dreamed that letter. "Just wish I could remember for sure."

"Don't worry Spike, it really seemed like you needed the sleep," Twilight levitated a new book in front of her eyes and began flipping through the pages. "I made sure Owlicious didn't do any of your chores so you didn't miss anything." The alicorn checked off some marks in one book and floated a biscuit into her mouth and then biting into it. "Just be sure you get all of it done before Pinkie's big get-together tonight, there are a lot of new ponies to meet and greet and were all expected to be there."

Spike nodded in agreement; bouncing the little green fin scales on his head. The purple dragon prepared to check off the chores on his check-list, but he couldn't start until he got this nagging suspicion in his mind cleared up. Writing that letter seemed more realistic than any dream he's ever had and if that really was a dream of his, why wasn't Rarity in it?! Something felt funny about this whole situation. Spike turned his gaze back towards Twilight who was sipping some orange juice through a straw.

"Hey Twilight, this may sound like a silly question but you didn't happen to find a letter I was writing to send to Princess Celestia did you?"

"GUURK" Twilight gagged on her orange juice; practically spitting it out of her purple lips. Spike stared at his female friend with much confusion. Twilight's reaction was quite extreme for such a simple question; the curious dragon raised an eyebrow. Twilight laughed nervously and wiped her mouth clean with her hoof. "Heh, heh, heh…a letter? What would I know about some random l-l-letter?" The princess fumbled her nervous hooves behind her winged back. "I'm sure a _good friend _like me would have told you if I came across an l-l-letter or n-n-not."

Spike crossed his arms across his chest, "Twilight you seem to have trouble saying the word 'letter' for some reason." The deeper Spike looked at his friend, the more Twilight seemed to look away; her fur was slowly building up mounds of dripping sweat. He unfolded his arms and rested them on his hips. "Look you don't have to make a big deal out of this, I'm just trying to find out if you've seen a letter I was writing or not. I may have been dreaming it so I just wanted to know if you ever saw me writing anything last night."

Twilight panicked nervously and Spike knew what it looked like Twilight was breaking down into a panicky mess; this is definitely one of those times. "Nope, nope, nope and nope! Totally must have been a dream, yeah, that's EXACTLY what it was." Twilight leaned in towards Spike with that crazed, nervous look in her eye. The pony princess poked Spike's nose, "You should totally ask Princess Luna about that totally-fake-not-at-all-realistic dream next time you see her." Twilight used her wings to flip Spike in the opposite direction and began pushing him with her wings. "Now you really need to catch up on your chores; that checklist won't check itself, bye now!"

SLAM!

Spike blinked in confusion, now he was standing outside his home with a rolled up chore checklist parchment in his claws. "Well…okay then…guess it was just a dream" Spike shrugged and took Twilight's weird behavior as just that: plain weirdness. "Better get some more quills from that sofa clerk before he runs out again." The little dragon shook the whole 'dream conversation' out of his mind and headed off into town to complete his chores.

Twilight peered out her front door window, waiting anxiously until Spike finally left. The princess let loose a deep sigh and slowly blinked. "That was a close one; I don't know how much longer I could have kept lying to Spike." The alicorn princess nodded to her pet owl, he returned the nod and released a rolled up parchment scroll from one of his talons. Twilight sighed looking upon the scroll laid out across her desk; "But I still don't know what to do with this letter." Owlicious shrugged in equal confusion. "I feel awful for taking this letter and lying to Spike about it but…_this_…worries me, I had no idea he's been thinking these kinds of things all this time." Twilight used her horn to magically pack the scroll into a small green bag and placed the bag behind her bed pillows. "I need to talk to the princess about this in person. I could always ask Spike to send it anyway and not tell him what it is, but I think pony to pony is the best way to address this." Twilight's violet orbs looked to Owlicious once again, "I just hope she can help me help Spike get the answers were _both _hoping for."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile at Sweet Apple Acres…<p>

Applejack approached the barn, a wheeled cart full of apples being tugged along. The orange pony ceased tugging and paused to wipe sweat from her golden mane. "Whew doggy; sure glad ah got all mah chores dun in time. Pinkie's party is just round the corner" AJ smiled as she spotted her friends approaching, arriving right on time to head to Sugar cube corner for the party alongside her. "Speaking of what's round the corner" Applejack said with a smirk. Her freckled face twisted into a sour frown once she saw Rarity. The orange mare shook her head "What in tar nation is that mare thinkin? Ah told her NOT to bring that!"

The irritating item in question was draped over Rarity's back: a beautiful sea foam green dress for the party; or as AJ preferred to call it "fancy clothes." In fact it was the dress Applejack wore to intentionally frustrate Rarity when she was 'going country' over Trenderhoof.

"Ah perfect timing! We got here with just enough time to get you washed and cleaned up for the party tonight." Rarity smiled and levitated the dress to Applejack; the orange mare reluctantly accepted it. "Come now darling; let's wash all that-" Rarity shuddered at the mention of the word, "Sweat off of you; everyone expects us to be fabulous and I shant disappoint them!" Applejack remained still as stone, the frown she wore remained planted on her face. Rarity leaned close to AJ and raised her eyebrows "I've selected something quite _fetching _for you." The unicorn elbowed AJ and grinned "I just know you'll look simply divine in this."

Applejack tossed the dress back to Rarity and snorted angrily. "Rarity ah told ya once ah told ya a thousan times, ah ain't wearin no fru-fru fancy duds to some meet n'greet." Rarity gasped, genuinely disappointed Applejack would refuse to wear such a beautiful gown. "Parties are fun n'all but this ain't that big a deal that ah need to get dolled up for."

Rarity gasped. "Not that big a deal?! Making a gorgeously grand first impression is ALWAYS a big deal Applejack. These ponies have come here because of us!" She stood on a tree stump and raised her hooves to the air, as if acting out a play. "They've heard of our stunning exploits and come to our quaint little town; just to see the ones who vanquished the terribly tempered…and poorly dressed, Tirek." The unicorn hopped down and placed the dress over her back once more.

"Ah know they came here for us but why does that mean we gotta dress fancy for it?" Applejack pushed the apple cart towards the side of the barn. "Yeah we sure whooped that Tirek feller but that don' mean we gotta get praised for it." Applejack looked up to the top of the barn curiously; thinking she heard something. The orange mare shook it off and returned her attention to Rarity.

"The praise is more like a perk, like you said it's more of a meet and greet. Twilight thought it would be best to convince Pinkie having one big party and welcome every pony instead of doing it one pony at a time." Rarity's diamond blue eyes rolled annoyingly, "Need I remind you of her _charming_ little stalk and singing routine with Cranky?"

Applejack shook her head. "Nah ah remember all too well; it would be nice to meet some new friendly faces round these parts." Rarity giggled with excitement. She once again hovered the dress in front of Applejack. The orange mare frowned and pushed it aside "But ah still ain't wearing that dress," Rarity frowned and huffed her nose up in a snooty manner. "Ya'll can dress as frilly and fancy as ya like just leave me out of it."

Rarity smirked "Suit yourself; I still say it's a wasted opportunity. More potential customers for me."

"Ah take it you'll be takin that new colt you went out with last night as yer date? What was his name?"

The mention of Rarity's date caused the white unicorn's face to turn beat red. Applejack blinked in confusion, she could see steam screaming out of Rarity's ears like she was a boiling tea kettle. Rarity screamed into the sky and went cross eyed; she looked exactly like she did when she was being 'covered in mud' during Trenderhoof's visit.

Applejack gulped "Uh…somethin ah said?"

"_Slick Charmer_…and he is the MOST repulsive, loathsome, despicable, uncivilized pony I ever had the miserable misfortune of knowing!" Rarity breathed heavily with fumes snorting from her nostrils. "To think I wasted my good chopsticks on him!" Applejack scratched her head at that remark.

"Calm down sugar cube; just tell me what happened."

"UGH where do I even begin? T-t-that….swine kept checking out the filly who was serving us, he trivialized my career; said making dresses was _typical for a mare like me_, and worst of all: he grabbed my flank on our way out of the restaurant." Applejack gasped; thoroughly shocked and disgusted. "I swear on Celestia", Rarity levitated an apple from an apple tree and placed it between her hooves. "If I ever see that obnoxious, filthy pervert again I'LL-"

SPLAT!

Rarity squashed the apple between her hooves; splattering juice and apple chunks over Applejack's face. The unicorn giggled in embarrassment and offered to wipe it off. Applejack stuck her tongue out and licked her face clean, swallowing down the apple chunks and groaning in approval of the delicious taste.

"Mmmm mmm! Now that is one tasty apple," Rarity twisted her lips in visible disgust at AJ's 'cleaning' method. "Now don't get yer tail in a twirl Rarity; that creep ain't worth a lick of yer time." The orange mare placed a hoof around Rarity's back and smiled sweetly to her. "What's say you and ah get washed up and meet up with the others?"

Rarity nodded and smiled back, "Sounds like a marvelous idea. Thanks for listening Applejack, you always tell me exactly what I need to hear and it really is a big help." The unicorn headed inside with a skip in her step; the sight made Applejack's smile grow even wider. "Now let's get ready to dazzle every pony with our stunning selves!" Rarity turned back to AJ and beamed. "Who knows? My REAL prince charming may be there already;" Rarity giggled loudly. "I can't wait!"

Applejack laughed and shook her head at her friend's reaction. "That pony I swear…," Applejack looked back to her cart of apples by the barn. The mare had to make sure to tell Big Mac about them so he could empty them out. The Earth pony called out to Rarity, "Ya'll get ready without me; first ah need to tell Big Mac about-"

The orange mare turned around to see the cart was now completely empty; every single apple had vanished. Applejack approached the cart and ran her green eyes over every inch of the cart. All the apples were gone and there wasn't a single clue as to where they went or how they vanished, it was a total mystery.

"What in tar nation is goin on here?"

"Applejack! Hurry up; I refuse to be fashionably late UNLESS I am fashion ready."

The orange mare swore there were apples in this cart but maybe the stress of work was getting to her and she just imagined there was a full cart here. AJ brushed it off for the moment and headed inside to join Rarity. Little did Applejack know a shadowy pony figure was sitting inside her barn's attic. The shadowy figure was softly munching apples, sounds of chewing and juices splattering could be faintly be heard. The weak glow of Moonstruck's horn could be made out but it soon dissipated along with the munching sounds.

"That was a close one", Moonstruck stuck his head out to make sure Applejack was gone. The dark purple unicorn sighed and returned into the darkness of the barn. "I've got to be more careful when grabbing food."

* * *

><p>Rainbow Dash groaned from behind Fluttershy, the cyan Pegasus shoved, pushed and plowed her body into Flutteryshy. The butter colored Pegasus was fearfully resisting Rainbow at every turn. The rainbow flyer dug her mane under Fluttershy's rump and tried lifting her back end to force her forward.<p>

"Come on Fluttershy; were going to be late for the party and I HATE being late!"

Fluttershy squeaked nervously. "B-b-b-but I told you, I really don't feel like going to this party," she dug her hooves into the ground in a vain attempt to halt Rainbow's shoving. "All those new ponies looking at me, staring at me, asking me questions and paying attention to me…EEK!" The panicky Pegasus buried her head under her fore hooves.

Rainbow sighed heavily. She ceased pushing and rubbed her temples, "Seriously? It's not like were being interrogated by dragons or something. They just want to talk about how awesome we are and make new friends." Fluttershy cautiously lifted her head back up. Rainbow smiled and flew above her friend's pink mane, beaming proudly. "But mostly talk how awesome I-" Rainbow stopped when she saw Fluttershy giving her a sarcastic look. The cyan Pegasus chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of her head, "I mean how awesome _we _are…of course."

The nature loving pony knew that defeat was inevitable. Rainbow had this special knack for getting ponies excited about things; even things you didn't actually care about or wanted to attend. Fluttershy actually _does _want to attend the party, it was written all over her face. The mousy Pegasus still hasn't gotten over her fear of receiving attention; even after all the improvements she's made while singing with the Pony tones. But lately Fluttershy has been fearing that the only company she'd have over at her cottage would be her animals…and no pony else. As much as she refused to admit it, Fluttershy wanted to socialize more and enjoy the company of more ponies; besides her 5 best friends of course.

"All right then; let's go" Rainbow blinked at Fluttershy's sudden change. The yellow Pegasus smiled sweetly and watched as her cyan friend floated to the ground. "You're right Dash, it would do me good to meet some new ponies and besides; Pinkie always throws the best parties." Rainbow and Fluttershy began walking towards Sugar cube corner. "I'd hate to hear I missed out on all the fun."

"That's great news Fluttershy; I'm totally digging this new attitude. I just know it's going to be all kinds of awesome!"

"Y'all mind waiting up? _Some _of us take longer to git ready than others."

The two Pegasi turn to the familiar southern sound of Applejack's voice, the orange mare was approaching from behind. Rarity was directly behind Applejack. The unicorn wore a light purple gown with rows of shimmering pink train lining the trim and center of the dress; each pink train was adorned with yellow and purple beads. Rarity's neck was covered by a golden necklace with a purple diamond at its centerpiece. Each fore leg had a brief shoulder cover; purple and pink just like her dress. The 3 ponies blinked watching Rarity adjust her neck against the bright pink, flower like collar.

Rarity raised a curious eyebrow at everyone's stares, "What? Is this not enough? I knew I should have brought my earrings."

Rainbow groaned; "I can't believe you think this is NOT enough. We're not going to the Grand Galloping Gala you know."

"Of course I know that! That's why I didn't bring the hat that goes with this."

Applejack, Rainbow and Fluttershy stared flatly at Rarity. None of the 3 ponies had a response for Rarity so they decided it would be best to say nothing and just head to the party. Once the 4 friends arrived, they spotted Pinkie at the door; smiling and ushering everyone in with her usual, infectious charm and spirit. The 4 friends looked around the sweets shop, their eyes widening at the abundance of colorful festivities, treats and friendly new faces.

"Hey guys, it's about time you all got here."

The friends turned to see Twilight at the punch bowl, levitating a full cup to her lips and sipping it. The girls joined their princess friend and immediately felt at ease despite all the new faces surrounding them. Spike popped up from behind Twilight, a jewel encrusted cookie munching between his puffy purple cheeks.

Pinkie popped up between her gathered friends. "I am soooooo glad you guys could make it, a party's not a party without a super duper party pony's party pals!" The pink mare hugged everyone in a tight bear hug, every pony's face started turning red from being suffocated by the hug. Spike was practically choking on his cookie under Pinkie's grip. "This is gonna be so much fun. There's so many new faces here, which means new friends and new smiles and best of all-", Pinkie released her friends from her iron grip hug. "New diving helmets," Pinkie proudly beamed and shoved the large, clunky, metal diving helmet over her head.

Twilight and the others just stared at their friend in silence.

Pinkie whipped off the helmet and tossed it aside. She bounced on her tail mane like a pogo stick and loudly cheered, "Enough politics! It's time to paaaaaaartaaaaaay."

For the first time that night, Pinkie Pie said something that everyone could understand and agree with. The party was filled with faces; both familiar and foreign to the mane 6 ponies. Twilight and her friends were honored with many compliments and words of praise from dozens of ponies for all they have done for Ponyville and Equestria. Two ponies in particular seemed to have a stronger than usual interest in the Mane 6. One was a somewhat tall dark grey Earth pony with a whitish, light grey mane and faint crystal blue eyes. He had a cutie mark of a golden arrow with the arrowhead pointed towards his tail mane. The other pony was a bright red Pegasus with hot pink eyes, black hair and a small orange bow tie secured towards the bottom of his tail mane. The Pegasus's cutie mark resembled a golden heart, two hooves holding each side of the heart and topped off with a golden crown. The Pegasus was shorter than the grey Earth pony and the Earth pony's hooves were a bit more scuffed than the red Pegasus's hooves.

Rarity giggled, "Don't look now girls but it seems we've caught the attention of a pair of stallions." Twilight and Pinkie giggled while Fluttershy and Applejack nervously tried to look away. Rainbow smirked and rubbed her nose confidently; taking pride in the admirers gaze. "Aren't they just divine looking? I wonder which one of us they're looking at" Rarity rubbed her chin curiously, "With all 6 of us together it does make it quite the charming little mystery doesn't it?"

Twilight smiled "Well if it's me then I'm flattered but frankly; I think I'll pass." The white unicorn pouted in disappointment, she was hoping Twilight would have indulged in some flirtatious fun. "I'm just too busy with my studies and princess duties to worry about going out with guys." Twilight took another sip from her punch, "Besides; being an alicorn isn't exactly an experience a lot of ponies can relate to. Where am I gonna find someone like that?"

"Come now Twilight, not every stallion has to be exactly like you in every way. Sometimes trying something new can be quite the daring adventure." Rarity batted her eyelashes at Twilight playfully, "Ever since I found those diamonds in that rock that lead to me getting my cutie mark; I've learned that wonderful things can come from the strangest of places." Spike curiously stood behind Twilight, partially hiding himself behind her tail mane. "Or in _this_ case; the strangest of ponies," Spike smiled brightly at Rarity's words. The little dragon's heart beat just a little bit faster after hearing what Rarity said; he could feel hope and optimism refueling his passionate crush for the fashionista. It wasn't much but the love struck dragon would take it.

Rainbow Dash moved between Twilight and Rarity, "Rarity's right, you could meet some pony who is totally awesome and totally understands what it feels like to be a boring egghead; just like you" The alicorn princess groaned loudly at being referred to an egghead…again. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to regale one of those ponies with tales of my amazingly cool adventures." The cyan Pegasus lightly elbowed Rarity, "Namely that sweet looking red Pegasus."

"Well then partner," Applejack took off her hat and bowed it in an inviting manner. "Y'all talked the talk now walk the walk, let's see ya in action speedy." The orange mare put her hat back on and winked to her blue winged friend. Rainbow flashed a shimmering smile to Applejack and nodded. The cyan Pegasus slowly began trotting towards the two colts.

The red Pegasus looked to the grey Earth pony nervously, he began chewing his hooves and glancing in every direction. "Oh crud this isn't good; no, no this isn't good at all! This is happening way too fast." The red flyer inhaled and exhaled rapidly but it failed to calm his nerves. "I thought I had more time to plan this out," the Pegasus looked to the tall gray colt for some kind of advice or plan of action. "What do I do?" the red pony grabbed the grey colt and shook him frantically before he could reply. "WHAT DO I DO?!"

The grey colt shook himself free from the Pegasus. "First off…breathe," he placed his hoof against the red pony's chest. "No pony's gonna want to spend 5 minutes talking to you all wigged out like that." The red pony breathed deeper and longer, slowly calming himself down. The grey colt smiled once he saw the red pony finally calmed himself down. "Now I don't know about you; but I plan on walking up to her, act like my natural self and well…see where the night takes us."

"You really think that's going to work? You make it sound so easy." The red Pegasus looked towards the mare in question. He swallowed down a large gulp and tried to calm himself down once more, the warmth in his cheeks and heart rising with every passing glance at the beautiful pony shining in his pink eyes. "I just….I just….don't know for sure."

The grey colt shrugged. "Well, only one way to find out." The Earth pony walked past the red Pegasus, his wings flapped nervously at his realization that he was about to miss his chance.

Rainbow Dash continued to wear that proud smile while noticing both the colts were approaching her. However, the cyan pony's ego was not prepared for what was about to happen next. Rainbow stopped to speak to the red Pegasus but found herself talking to dead air instead. The red Pegasus had walked right past Rainbow and approached the TRUE mare he was fawning over all this time: Applejack.

"Um excuse me fair maiden?" the red Pegasus said. Applejack ceased talking with her friends when she realized the colt was actually speaking to her, she looked around and pointed to herself with her hoof; checking to see if he was really addressing her. The colt nodded "F-f-f-forgive my disturbance but," his shyness caused his cheeks to redden. "I couldn't leave here tonight without at least getting to have the pleasure of meeting you."

"Um…ya'll sure ya got the right pony? I mean yer not mistakin me for some pony else, right?"

The Pegasus chuckled, "Absolutely not maiden; a beautiful face like yours is not something some pony comes across every day." Now it was Applejack's turn to blush. "But forgive me for not introducing myself, my name is Hopeful." The colt extended his hoof towards AJ along with the warmest of smiles, "Hopeful Romantic and what might your name be?"

Applejack felt nervous, uncertain and frankly; flustered. Like Rainbow, Applejack was certain Hopeful was going to talk to a fellow Pegasus. "Well uh that sure is mighty nice of ya…Hopeful." AJ looked to her friends with uncertain eyes; Twilight and Rarity smiled and waved their hooves in a "Go on" motion. AJ sighed and looked back to Hopeful, "My name's Applejack but ya'll can call me AJ if ya like." The orange mare extended her hoof to Hopeful.

The red Pegasus took AJ's hoof and instead of shaking it; bowed down to one knee and kissed it with the softest of pecks. "I wouldn't dream of shortening such a beautiful name, it's a true pleasure to meet you Miss Applejack." Hopeful stood back up and smiled tenderly at the orange mare. Applejack's freckled cheeks blushed brighter than a dragon's fire ball, she felt so hot inside she could have sworn one was standing right behind her.

Fluttershy and Pinkie both gasped at the cute display, while Twilight and Rarity made childlike "Awwww" sounds. None of them had seen any pony have this effect on Applejack before. Trenderhoof was the only other colt who treated Applejack like this, but she didn't even come close to having this kind of reaction to such affection.

Pinkie Pie munched loudly on some popcorn, Fluttershy looked to her and blinked in confusion as to where the pink mare got that bag of popcorn. "Such scandalous scandals! Who could have imagined such a turn of events." Pinkie watched Applejack and Hopeful intensely, as if expecting some sort of soap opera twist ending to take place.

"Gosh, I wonder how Rainbow Dash is feeling about all this;" Fluttershy asked curiously.

The 4 ponies looked at each other and blinked. They immediately turned their attention towards the grey colt and Rainbow, Spike was now munching on some of Pinkie's popcorn as well.

Rainbow Dash was so speechless by this realization; she didn't realize the grey pony was standing directly in front of her. "Hi there, name's Arrowhead and you must be the one and only Rainbow Dash", the colt smiled and shook Rainbow's hoof firmly. The cyan Pegasus flinched a little, actually surprised at how strong Arrowhead's grip was. "This right here…this totally just made my day."

"Look sorry about this but um," Rainbow nervously scratched the back of her head. "I think there's been a bit of a misunderstanding. You see-"

"Did you _really_ save the Wonderbolts and your friend, win the flight contest AND perform the sonic rainboom in one go? Anyone of those would be brag worthy but 3? Man that's beyond impressive."

The cyan Pegasus bashfully grinned and rubbed her chest with her hooves. "Heh I wasn't exactly planning on doing ALL of that, but actually." Rainbow stopped and shook her head and resumed her original point. "Back to the point at hoof here; I'm flattered and all but this isn't exactly what I had in mind."

Arrowhead blinked in confusion at Rainbow's remark. He smiled as an idea suddenly came to him, "Oh I get it; you'd rather talk outside." The colt stepped aside and motioned his hoof in an inviting manner, "Why didn't you say so? Lead the way."

"No, no, you're really not getting it buddy. What I'm trying to say is-"

"It's okay; I don't mind waiting while you tell your friends."

"I'M NOT INTERESTED; OKAY?!"

Rainbow immediately gasped, that came out much louder than she intended to and it appeared everyone in the party seemed to drag their curious eyes towards the pair of ponies. The Pegasus could feel the ponies' eyes on her; talk about embarrassing! Rainbow quickly flashed a glare towards everyone, visually encouraging them to go back to the party.

Arrowhead raised a curious eyebrow. "Um I'm s-s-sorry…I didn't realize I was interrupting you so much." The grey colt rubbed his white mane nervously; he could see Rainbow was desperate to avoid eye contact with him. "If you really want me to leave you alone; I'll respect that." Rainbow sighed with relief. "But I'd like to at least ask the reason why you're not interested. Am I unattractive to you, is that it?"

The Pegasus stopped avoiding Arrowhead's eyes; his question causing her to freeze in her hooves. Rainbow could feel her cyan colored cheeks turn bright, tomato red. _What's with this guy? I know he was probably thinking that but I never expected him to actually ask me! Who does that? _Rainbow laughed nervously "N-n-no actually…now that you brought it up-" She felt her cheeks blush even brighter and harder than before; unable to keep her eyes off of the colt's charming face. "You're actually…um…pretty hot."

Arrowhead's formed a smile, a much wider smile than he's shown all night. "Well thank you…heh I never thought I'd hear those words out of your mouth." He still maintained his composure and confidence in the face of such a compliment from the pony he had been eyeing since he got to Sugar cube corner. "So then why can't you give me a shot? I haven't said anything about myself that would freak you out so I know that's not it." Arrowhead laughed softly at his attempt at humor.

Rainbow tried to explain it gently but was having difficulty, "Well gee I uh…hmmm how do I put this…you see it's the whole, well you know?" Arrowhead looked at Rainbow as if she were speaking a completely different language; she knew she had to be more specific. "You see the thing is that" Rainbow paused and bit her lip, "You were looking for me…but I was looking more for these." The Pegasus pointed to her wings and then pointed to Arrowhead's backside. Slowly but surely, Arrowhead seemed to be getting the message Rainbow was sending. Rainbow shrugged her shoulders and offered a weak smile, "Does that help? Make any sense?"

That charming smile of Arrowhead's vanished quickly; so did Rainbow's. "Oh…I get it now; you have a problem with me not having wings." Arrowhead pointed his hoof firmly at Hopeful who was still talking to Applejack. "You may have been checking him out but he was looking at your friend. But clearly being flightless is such a deal breaker that knowing me doesn't even matter!"

Rainbow frantically waved her arms in protest. "No, that's not it; well yeah it kind of is but…NO! What I mean is I don't have a problem with you not having wings. I just-" she fumbled with her hooves against her chin, trying to find the right words to explain this. Even if Rainbow wasn't interested in this pony, the last thing she wanted to do was offend him. "Look, I have friends who don't have wings; It's just when it comes to dating I have my uh…my uh what's it called…a preference."

Arrowhead narrowed his eyes at Rainbow, clearly not satisfied with her answer. "Right…you're preference….it's your _preference _to be prejudice." The Pegasus face twisted in horror at Arrowhead's remark. The colt frowned and turned from Rainbow towards the exit. "I was _so _wrong about you Rainbow Dash."

"Ugh! No that's not what I meant, wait; hold up," Rainbow reached out to grab Arrowhead but missed his tail mane. The Pegasus bit her hooves nervously at this horrid realization. _Did he really just say that? Did I really just __**do **__that? I didn't just diss a hot guy just because I was hoping to date that Pegasus…did I? Was I really being offensive by saying that?_ Rainbow slapped herself and groaned. "Buck this, he's gonna be gone by the time I finish throwing myself a pity party."

Pinkie popped up behind Rainbow and slapped a colorful, green and yellow spotted party hat on her rainbow mane. "Oooooh a party within a party; best idea EVER," Pinkie blew into a party favor with a loud cheer. Rainbow shoved Pinkie and the hat to the side in annoyance.

"It's not THAT kind of party!"

Rainbow turned back to Arrowhead and noticed he had already left. The Pegasus bolted and left a rainbow blur trail behind her hind legs; she quickly landed outside the sweets shop and began looking for Arrowhead. "Hey Arrow guy, look I'm sorry for what I said. I wasn't trying to hurt your feelings or anything, I just-" Rainbow was shocked to see that Arrowhead was nowhere in sight, not even hoof prints or a sign of his shadow in the distance anywhere. "No way, how did he move that fast?" the Pegasus flew up into the air to get a better look but still couldn't see him. "This is nuts! He was only out the door for a few seconds. I got out here as fast as I could and I can't see him anywhere, how is that possible?"

The fact that Arrowhead had vanished so quickly despite Rainbow's fast response time left the cyan Pegasus truly baffled. Even if the grey colt had a head start, Rainbow should have been fast enough to catch up and at least see some sign of him leaving. The speedy flyer rubbed her chin with confusion and curiosity. Perhaps there was more to this pony then she originally thought, and perhaps he was more extraordinary than extra ordinary.

"Sigh, no matter what kind of pony he is; the way I handled things was totally uncool. I've gotta find him and apologize." Rainbow floated back down to the ground and brushed rainbow colored strands out of her eyes. "I just wish I had a clue on where to find him."

Suddenly Rainbow's contemplation was broken by the sound of a door being slammed open. The cyan pony turned to see Spike storming out of Sugar cube corner; he had a menacing scowl on his face. The little dragon looked like he was on a mission. Rainbow could see fierce determination in Spike's eyes, just like when he went on that quest of self-discovery.

"Uhhh hey Spike are you all right? You look a little peeved."

Spike merely grunted in response, not even looking up at Rainbow as he walked right past her

"Does Twilight know you're going home alone? Are you mad at me or something? Is that why you're not answering me?" Rainbow continued to watch Spike march off without so much as a wave, a wag of his tail or any kind of verbal response. The Pegasus cupped her hooves next to her cheeks and shouted, "HEY Spike! Where are you going?"

This time; the dragon stopped.

Spike turned his head towards Rainbow; he stared right at her with an intense looking gaze. "I've got a pony to find," Spike returned marching off into the night until he eventually walked out of Rainbow's line of sight.

_Well, he looked really intense or maybe he was really angry over something? I guess this pony must be real important because I've never seen the little guy look this serious before. _Rainbow looked back at Sugar cube corner entrance. She briefly spotted the combined colors of purple and white moving around, which means Rarity was still in there. Rainbow raised a confused eyebrow to this realization. _But what other pony could Spike be so focused on? Rarity is still inside and so are the rest of the girls._ The pony's concentration reverted back to Spike's actual words: he's got a pony to find. Rainbow sighed heavily and hanged her head, "Yeah…so do I."

_10 minutes earlier…_

"It's not THAT kind of party!"

Rainbow turned back to Arrowhead and noticed he had already left. The Pegasus bolted and left a rainbow blur trail behind her hind legs. Twilight and the others looked at each other with slightly worried eyes, their attention eventually returning to the awkward yet adorable conversation between Hopeful and AJ.

"Well it's been uh mighty nice meeting ya Hopeful," Applejack continued to flash red; blushing cheeks to the Pegasus. "But I've gotta get goin now. I've gotta get up early so ah can get started on mah chores, lots of work to do on the farm ya know." The orange mare lifted her cowboy hat to Hopeful and started to head towards the exit.

Hopeful had a fearful look in his pink eyes; he didn't expect AJ would be leaving the party so soon. "Wait, Wait! Please, I wanted to ask you something," Hopeful called out to Applejack. The orange mare stopped and turned towards Hopeful, waiting for his question. "Um this was like really, really, really nice; you know just talking to you." The pony nervously rubbed his hooves behind his back, fidgeting behind his twitching wings. "I w-w-was just wondering if we could…you know…do it again sometime." Hopeful looked at AJ with big old puppy eyes, she half expected him to whimper like a pup too.

Applejack bit her lip nervously. "Well gee that's mighty nice of ya there Hopeful but the thing is," the orange mare really was uncomfortable with this whole begging dog look of his. "I'm real busy with mah chores and all, and I just don' think with mah busy schedule that ah got any time for doin' this again." That wounded puppy look on Hopeful just got a whole lot more wounded looking. "Ah don' mean to hurt ya feelings; ah just got a lot on mah plate right now," she offered a small smile and lifted up Hopeful's sagging chin with her hooves; "That's all."

"Well what if I stopped by the farm and helped out with the chores? You'd get done a lot faster and I'm sure my wings could help make certain chores a lot easier." Applejack wasn't 100% sold on Hopeful's idea, but it looked like the Pegasus wasn't going to stop insisting until she said yes. "I promise I'll do my best. Just give me a chance, that's all I'm asking for."

"Well…ah never turn down a hard worker," Applejack nodded and finally caved in. The orange mare shook Hopeful's hoof in agreement. "Yah got yer self a deal there partner, ah expect to see you bright an early the day after tomorrow."

Hopeful nodded and let go of AJ's hoof, his smile stretched from ear to ear. "Oh thank you SO much Miss Applejack, I promise you won't regret this!"

Hopeful was so elated by Applejack's approval; he didn't realize he was sticking his wings out in the open at the worst possible moment. Mrs. Cake was coming out of the kitchen with a freshly frosted batch of gooey, chocolate cupcakes with white frosting and sprinkles. The wings slammed into the mare's face and plate, tossing the cupcakes into the air and splattering right back down on top of both ponies.

SPLAT!

Hopeful's red coat was completely covered in thick, goopy cupcake frosting and sprinkles. He could see nothing but brown fudge and white frosting and could feel it dripping off his feathers like sludgy icicles. Mrs. Cake groaned while wiping her face and pink hair free from the splattered remains of her freshly baked treats. Half of the ponies laughed at the amusing accident while others groaned at the sight of seeing such delicious looking goodies gone to waste.

"Whoops! Let me help you up there Mrs. Cake," Pinkie smiled and helped the cake covered pony back to her hooves.

Applejack helped Hopeful back to his hooves. The red Pegasus felt even more foolish looking than he already did, "Good grief….I am SO, so, so sorry Mrs. Cake. I guess I just heh got a little over excited."

Mrs. Cake chuckled softly, "Nonsense dear; it was an honest mistake."

Pinkie helped Mrs. Cake back to the kitchen to get cleaned up and get started on a new batch of cupcakes. Applejack helped the sticky, sulking red Pegasus back to the kitchen to clean up as well.

"What's say we get you cleaned up before ah head on out, huh lover boy?"

"That's awfully kind of you Miss Applejack, thank you."

The orange mare chuckled and rubbed Hopeful's cake splattered dark hair, mixing more white into his black mane.

"Awe shucks partner; ya'll can just call me Applejack."

Hopeful softly said her name out loud and felt the warmth in his heart and cheeks rise once more. AJ noticed the goofy grin forming on the pony's face; she rolled her eyes and laughed. The two ponies vanished into the kitchen. Mr. Cake exited the kitchen shortly after, carrying a small white box on top of his head.

The yellow Earth pony approached Spike and Twilight by the punch bowl. "Looks like I missed all the messy fun, though it looks like the ladies got it all under control in there." Mr. Cake leaned down to Spike and handed him the small white box. "Here's that special project of yours Spike," Mr. Cake leaned especially close to Spike and gave him a friendly wink and smile. "I think she'll be plenty pleased big guy."

Twilight blinked at Mr. Cake's words, watching as he headed back to the kitchen without saying another word. "What was that all about?" The Alicorn princess turned her attention to her number one assistant, noticing how happy Spike was once he looked inside the white box. "Did the Cakes make you another special diamond covered cupcake?"

The purple dragon shook his head, "Nah, nothing like that. I noticed Rarity's been real stressed lately so I thought I'd help cheer her up by making a special dessert just for her." Spike looked into the box and smiled, half proud and half uncertain about his personally crafted pastry. "I just hope I did a good enough job," he closed the box and started looking around the room for Rarity. "I just wish I knew why she was so on edge; maybe it's from some new big order she has to fill or something."

Twilight shook her head. "Actually, I heard she's angry because some jerk named Slick Charmer got grabby with her on their date and insulted her business."

Spike's scaly muscles froze in place, his eyes widened before slowly turning into a sinister glare. "_What_?" was all Spike could say; Twilight wasn't aware of the seething, raw hatred in Spike's voice.

"Yeah, Applejack said Rarity was planning on coming to this party with him before she found out what a creep he was."

"Hold this please."

Twilight looked down and saw Spike was handing his custom pastry treat to her. The purple pony took the box in her hooves, confused exactly why Spike wanted her to hold it for him. The little dragon began storming out the door; completely ignoring Twilight asking him about where he was going. The young dragon had a mission to complete and he wasn't going to let any pony stop him or change his mind. Spike didn't even realize he had forgotten that he wanted to give Rarity that pastry himself, however this "mission" seemed to dominate his mind. Spike exited left the party and walked past a confused, floating Rainbow Dash.

_Present time…_

A tall, good looking stallion smiled smugly at his reflection in the window of a building. He had mint green eyes, a slicked back dark brown mane, an ink blue coat and his cutie mark was a jar of hair gel.

"I know I just checked to make sure my hair looked good before I left, but when you want the ladies to notice you-" the colt paused and checked his teeth in the reflection. "You've got to look your best to _attract_ the best." A yellow mare with a light orange mane and a yellow bug for a cutie mark walked past the colt. "Hey there sweet cheeks," the pony put on his flashiest looking smile for the mare.

Junebug stopped and turned her head towards the colt that addressed her. "Huh, you talking to me?" The stallion approached the yellow mare, his dark brown hair bouncing and shining in the moonlight. She could practically smell the hair gel the colt had drowned his mane in.

"You better believe it good looking. Name's Slick Charmer and it is my genuine pleasure to meet you…miss?"

"Um it's Junebug."

"Well Junebug, might I say that is a fine looking cutie mark you got there." Slick leaned in close to Junebug's face; the mare smiled nervously at his intense proximity. The smug pony wiggled his eyebrows, "And might I also say I'm dying to know what it tastes like."

SLAP!

Junebug huffed and walked away from the perverted creep after giving him the slap of his life. Slick rubbed his hoof against his cheek, half wincing and half smirking at the feistiness of the pony; despite the fact she just smacked him.

Slick shook the pain off and chuckled, "Your loss babe but more importantly; my gain." The pony began walking towards the direction of Sugar cube corner. "There'll be plenty of fine honeys at that party and based on the so-called stallions I've seen living in this dump; those mares will be ripe for the picking."

"Excuse me."

The pony stopped when he heard a young voice coming from below his line of sight. Slick looked down and saw a small purple dragon with green fins, green eyes and a very stern looking scowl on his snout.

"A dragon huh? Well this is certainly a first for me."

Spike stared at Slick, his arms crossed over his scaly belly. The pony didn't know how to react or respond to this dragon. Spike acted like he was in a staring contest with Slick and showed no emotions or signs of stopping.

"Um can I help you with something squirt?"

"Your name wouldn't happen to be Slick Charmer would it?"

The pony's smug smile grew twice as wide; actually pleased a pint sized dragon had heard of his reputation. "Squirt, you just hit the jackpot. I am indeed the one, the only: Slick Charmer!" Spike stared flatly at the obnoxious pony's macho display, trying hard to keep his dinner down.

"And are you also the pony who took a white unicorn named Rarity out on a date, who also happens to be at the same party you're heading to?"

"Ugh, that nag is at the party? Sheesh! She's probably telling all the ladies there a bunch of crap about me that isn't true." Spike raised an eyebrow at that questionable statement. "Take it from me kid, if you see that pony than make tracks. She is SO high maintenance!"

Spike used all of his will power not to explode and claw this pony's face off for what he just said. Still appearing calm and collective, Spike pulled out a hoof mirror and extended it towards Slick. "Uh huh…can you do me a favor and please hold this?"

Slick picked up the mirror and nodded. His attention momentarily getting lost in his own beauty; staring fondly at himself in the reflective surface. "Sure thing squirt, you mean like this?" Spike nodded to the pony. "Not that I don't mind the view but what exactly is this for?"

FASCHOOM!

The little dragon engulfed Slick's head of freshly combed and gelled hair in a blast of sizzling green flames. Slick blinked in total shock; his face frozen and unable to produce any kind of response to what just happened. The pony's prized hair sprinkled off the top of his head in charred black cinders.

"There now," Spike smiled and took the mirror back from Slick. "That looks MUCH better if you ask me."

Slick screamed like a 5 year old filly, he ran his hooves along his head in a desperate attempt to find any remaining hairs. The pony ran off in the direction he came from and pathetically tried to hide his shame under his hooves.

The purple dragon sighed heavily, rubbing his claws against the sides of his chest like he was wearing suspenders. "Well then…that takes care of that!" Spike whistled to himself happily as waddled on home. "If he's really desperate, he can always try borrowing Cranky's wig," Spike laughed to himself.

* * *

><p>To be continued…<p> 


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